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Culinary Cozy Mystery Box Set (Frosted Love Cozy Mystery #1-5)

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Melissa Gladstone, also known as Missy, is roped into a murder as her assistant is the prime suspect after her business-rival was found dead. While the police department is barking up the wrong tree in her opinion, Missy decides to take justice in her own hands and figure out who really killed him and clear her devoted assistance name.

This is an interesting book and it nearly got a 4 star if it wasn’t for Chas’ character. He had a really nice beginning, however, I really started to dislike him 1/2 through. He reminds be a lot of Mike in the Hannah Swensen book series.

The story was interesting and it even incorporated a mystery that wasn’t in this book. The characters were interesting and relatable to a point. Missy is a strong independent woman who was self-made. Her assistant Ben is following closely in her shoes. Chas, though annoying has his own back story and does show his sweet since to Missy.

the plot was well thought out and was interesting until the very end. This wasn’t the standard mystery that you could follow the culprit from early on in the story, but the twist in the end was a little nice.

Over all it was a very nice story.

With plans for expansions in mind, Missy is more than a little excited that she was invited to the cupcake competition. She also decides that it would be a good time to unwind and have a little vacation. She quickly finds out, however, that a childhood rival had something to do with her invitation. Knowing her like she did, she wasn’t surprised that there were strings attached to her invitation. But once she’s found dead, Missy is the prime suspect as their past isn’t exactly a secret.

This may seem weird but… Yay a series that takes the heroine out of their town. One of the issues that I have with a lot if mystery book was addresses in this book but I’m sure we’ll go back to normal in the next book. I do like seeing the characters traveling, which I know would be hard when you own a store.

Chas was redeemed in this book. I didn’t like him in the last book, but as he did come to Las Vegas to help her, he’s been redeemed a bit. He was awfully sweet to Missy in this book.

How Missy has accidentally gotten herself mixed up in a murder again is quite comical. She has done nothing wrong past being at the wrong place at the wrong time. Though I had a suspicion of who the murderer was, it was subtle.

This was a good book.

Back in Louisiana, Missy is ready to forget the fiasco in Las Vegas. However, while expanding her shop, she notices something fishy going on in town. When some people try to strong arm her into using their dry goods business, and another shop owner turns something just doesn’t feel right. She and Chas work together to figure out what happening and who is trying to get her to stop the expansion of the shop.

This nearly got 5 stars… but when you’ve nearly been killed twice, I fell like you would probably be a little more cautious when you are investigating. Missy must be a real glutton for punishment because she doesn’t learn.

We do get a new shop assistant, but sadly we really don’t get any background to her yes. I really hope the we get more information about her in future books.

The mystery and story in this book is very interesting and not completely linear. Though the murder mystery wasn’t exactly the hardest thing to figure out. I still really enjoyed the build up. There was a little twist in the end that made the story even more interesting. This was a good addition to the series.

After a new woman takes over the ice cream joint across the road from her Delville location, Missy gets an odd sense that she’s hiding something. When odd things starts happening, Missy is worried that her new friend might be in the middle of it. However, being a southern lady, Missy isn’t about to push, no matter what Chas might tell her.

How Missy keeps getting in the middle of murder investigations as a prime suspect is beyond me. She works very hard with her muffin shop that she doesn’t have time to commit murders but never less she keeps getting into the middle of it.

Though this is not the standard mystery book as she is not actively searching or helping much in the investigation, we still get to follow along. Chas keeps her so well informed that it is helpful. I will say though, the change in voice messes up the flow for me. Even though it is all written in 3rd person, when the focus is removed from Missy for only a few sentences without a break it’s a little weird.

I do like that we get to know more information about Echo in this book. It gives the character more depth and a richer feel to the story. It is a good continuation.

When Chas takes Missy away for a well deserved vacation, they happen to get wrapped up into a murder investigation with in a few days of being in Cozumel. While Chas tries to run a little interference, as well as a shadow investigation. Missy, meanwhile, just wants to hide from the world and make cupcakes. She trusts Chas to clear their names.

I know that no one reads these books for realism, but 5 books a 5 murder investigations that Missy is in the middle of is a bit much. Chas also manages to also perform an investigation in Mexico, far outside of his jurisdictions.

Though there was no real way to follow the mystery and figure it out in this book, it was a fun read. I kinda wish that there was more description when it came to the scenery in Mexico, but overall it was fun.

The cupcakes described in this book sounded absolutely scrumptious, and put me in the mood for baking. Missy’s relationship with Chas in this book started to blossom a bit more, now that they have been dating for a few months. He is still as overprotective as always, but I think thats understandable at this point.

Still little to no development with any of the new shop workers, but I’m hoping to see more in future books.